I am SO EXCITED for this one, y’all!

I’ll begin by stating that I am known for doing things “big” and for my exuberance. Rather than tackle a single concept with this piece, I took on all 3 at once 🙂

1.) Zinc finish furniture. Restoration Hardware makes these insanely expensive but AMAZING zinc furniture pieces, and I want, like…ALL of them. Here’s a taste: 

 

 

Yeah, dreamy! Also thousands. I’ve been wanting to recreate this look with paint for a while now. The kick in the pants came from a crafty/upcycle-queen buddy (Kelley Gauntt). She posted this amazing piece that she made. By the way, it is for sale and has a bigger twin, making it a set. They’re also SO reasonable, so let me know if you are interested, she does great work.

 

 

 

2.) Next up on my list was the numbered drawers (shown in Kelley’s piece), that I saw long ago at Anthropologie and loved! It’s a cool look and lends sort of an industrial flair. Here are some great examples:

 

Fun, right?!

 

Okay, now…3.) Ombre drawers in a dresser. With the exception of hair (eww), I love ombre. I was rocking ombre dresses in high school long before it was trendy. Such a beautiful look. Here are some of my inspiration pieces for this look:

I love the shabby one in the final pic…I will be trying that soon for sure.

 

So with all my inspiration, THIS was my canvas. A tall, narrow chest made of knotty pine. Despite its homely appearance, all I could see was potential. I snagged it for just $7! As mentioned earlier, I combined all 3 of the techniques into this one…zinc paint, numbered drawers, ombre colors. Here’s the raw material:

 

I primed it a pale grey color and then used a textured deep metallic grey paint by Martha Stewart as coat 1. 

It gave the piece a great texture that is nice to touch, rough and industrial. Next, I used a sooth silver metallic paint, also by Martha Stewart. I used a cheesecloth to wipe it on and then off for a look that replicated zinc’s natural patina. Here’s the zinc paint job:

My bestie was over and helped me with the drawers by giving me her valued opinions on whether the shades were correct or need re-mixing. I began with white and led to a deeper blue in an ombre effect. I used paint I had on hand. I found aluminum numbers at Home Depot that I gave a zinc paint job to to number the drawers when done. I sealed the drawers when done, and after the numbers went on…she was complete. I’m obsessed. Here she is!

 

 

 

Three elements combined to make one really unique, funky piece. 

 

Now, for the cost rundown:

Dresser: $7

Numbers: $9

Metallic paints: $7

Total: $23. Hows that for a creative steal?!

I adore this one. 

 

Til next time…